In Advanced Placement classrooms around the country, fear and worry has stricken a majority of the students as we are with in weeks and in some cases, single digit days left until TEST DAY!
No doubt as we get closer to the culmination of all of their hard work in my AP World History class, the energy and expectations has ramped up. This is the second year that Concordia and I have taught AP (college level) World History to sophomores, and my message this year leading up to the test will be the same as it was last year. Your value and worth has nothing to do with what grade you get on some test. Let me restate that, achieving high is great; however, your value to me and the people around you has nothing to do with a grade on some test.
Your value was already stated when your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ went to the cross on Good Friday. Your value was already stated when He went down to hell and defeated death and the devil. Your value was already stated when He rose from the grave on Easter morning!
Praise be to God that He does not base our value on what we do but yet what Christ has done for us already. We can be reminded by the devil consistently how we fall short of the glory of God, and in the classroom a bad grade or an essay can remind how truly far away we are from understanding the content full. However, we know that ultimately earthly things fade away.
We study hard and aim for high achievement not as a way to self-glorification but as praise and adoration for the gifts that the Lord has blessed us with.
So we will continue to study hard here in the classroom knowing that our eternal test was already taken and passed with a perfect score by the blood of Christ!
Praise be to Him!
Chris Brune,
History Teacher